Liberal Lunacy

Massachussetts is considering legislation that would make it illegal for parents to hit their kids under the age of 18.

Hello? This means no spanking, so slapping, nothing. Not a hair. If you do, you can be reported for abuse.

I don't care which side of the spanking issue you are on, this is absurd. You cannot come in and dictate to parents how they should raise their children.

On a different take, critics of the legislation say it will not accomplish it's goal of diminishing child abuse.

Look beating your child is already illegal, and that unfortunately hasn't deterred abusive parents from beating their kids. This law aside from absurd, will only serve as another ploy rebellious kids can use against their parents and as a total intrusion into the privacy of the home.

Venezuela on the brink

While venezuelans prepare to take to the polls on December 2nd, they are really preparing to "take back" democracy. Chavez's constitutional ammendments not only places him as "president for life" but also curtails civil liberties. The ACLU would have a field day if anyone in the US would even consider putting some of these items in the ballot. As explained by the Chicago Tribune:

The changes would not only repeal the two-term limit on his office, allowing him
to serve for life, but also transfer virtually all power to one person: the
president. He would gain the authority to supersede local governments on a whim,
declare a state of emergency anytime it suits him and seize farms and processing
plants if he deems it necessary for "food security."

But more than that, Venezuela's National Assembly is considering allocating at least 250 million dollars (close to 500 million if resources are included) to export their "revolution" to other countires primarily in Latin America.

Excuse me? Wouldn't those 250 million dollars be better served domestically, improving healthcare, education, or the life of the poor? Why wouldn't venezuelans, even chavistas, protest this?

As the closing of Chapman's editorials states:

A phony revolution may nonetheless be a durable one. If the Venezuelans who go
to the polls next Sunday give Chavez what he wants, they are likely to discover
a paradox: They can bring about dictatorship through democracy, but not the
reverse. (Emph mine)

Racism? What Racism?

In Cuba there si no racism, didn't you know? That fallacy has been spread by regime friendly people for a long time. Yet actions speak louder than words; and we all know a picture is worth a thousand words.

A reader sent me this picture. We don't know the story behind it, but whatever this guy did there is no need to humiliate him by parading him naked and handcuffed. If anyone knows the story behind the picture please comment.

I'm sure this picture here in the state would cause outrage; Sharpton, Jackson, the ACLU, the NAACP all would jump on this as an example of police brutality towards people of color.

Yet, who speaks for this man? Who comes to his defense? Who accuses the regime of racism?

I can hear the cricketts chirping.

Illegal Immigration

One of the things that bother me most about the illegal immigration issue is the arrogance displayed by some of the most vocal illegals or groups.

But no one, and I repeat no one, can surpass the arrogance exhibited not only by the Mexican government but also by Mexican nationals. I've only found it in Spanish, and will post the English version as soon as possible - though it seems an edited (shorter) version. And of course, the Minutemen were quick to react.

For those who don't know Spanish I'll summarize. Mexicans in Mexico are outraged at the state level legislations being passed to address the problem of illegal immigration. Are they outraged because this is negative for illegals? Hell no! They are outraged because this harms Mexican illegals. Period. They do not care about any of the other groups affected by this, Hispanics or otherwise, they only see these laws as anti-Mexican.

In addition, for a country that so fiercely defends its sovereignty against the intrusion of others, Mexico, its people and its government, hipocritically see fit to tell the US how they should draft their policy and what they should and should not do with illegal immigrant; well at least with the Mexican ones. Specially, when they do not practice what they preach.

Yet in Mexico, federal law requires proof of Mexican citizenship or a valid visa
for a license, USA Today said Friday."When it comes to foreigners, we're a
little more strict here," said Alejandro Ruiz, a director at the Mexican
Automobile Association.

And of course, anyone who is anti illegal immigration is racist, don't you know? Never mind the rule of law; never mind that many anti illegals are for legal immigration. The culprit? Those racist Republicans!!! Never mind that there are Democrats who are fiercely anti illegal immigration as well. And Bush? He's a nice guy, no? After all, he tried so hard to pass a reform to make them all citizens! Nothing more that "the Hitler of our times".

As I said in the beginning, arrogance. So much arrogance, that even some of my friends who defend the right of illegals, would happily deport all Mexicans and keep the other nationalities. I agree 100% with the following quote from Minutemen Director Al Garza

“It is disrespectful for the Mexican President to expect our citizens and their
elected officials to bear the burden of responsibility for eradicating poverty
in Mexico, when his solution is to encourage Mexican citizens to illegally enter
the United States, take jobs and send money back to Mexico without regard for
the sovereignty of our country.”

Honestly, he couldn't have said it better. Mexico should worry more about domestic policy and solving their problems, than truly exporting them. What say you?

Election 2008 - Candidates and Issues

Wanna know who's for what? You have two options. Either go to every candidate's website and look for the issues, or just go here (last updated 'bout a month ago). If you don't know what the issues are, then you can get a quick overview.

As an undecided Republican/Independent, I have no clue who I'm voting for so all these tables and summaries, of who's for what is a lot more efficient. Not much free time left when you are a married doctoral student working on your dissertation proposal and keeping a blog at the same time.

Shut Up!

Chavez is demanding an apology for something he did not hear. I kid you not. According to Chavez

he neither saw nor heard the king, as he (Chavez) was addressing Spanish Prime
Minister

Because you know, if he had heard it

I would have stared him down like an Indian, because I am an Indian and a little
bit black and white

Ha. Hahaha. Yeah right. He forgets that this incident was caught on camera and everyone who was watching saw his dumbfounded face, with no witty comeback, just silence in pure and utter shock that someone actually wasn't going to stand idly by and allow him to hijack time and garner attention. Someone actually let him know, that they will no be fooled.

And you know, he cannot allow his people to see what happens when someone tells him to shut up.

As my Husband would say....

¿Cómo andamos por casa?

Cuban Comfort Food

When in Chicago, you have at least three options to eat Cuban. But it seems that El Cubanito, is the one to try.

Cubans Make it to Shore

Thirty three Cubans jumped from a boat and swam to the Palm Beach shore; unfortunately only thirty two made it. When is this madness going to stop?

New York has Spoken

There will be no licenses for illegal immigrants. I know some will disagree, but until we either have a national id with fingerprinting like so many other nations, our license remains as the "national" id.

Been really busy

Sorry about the lapse of posting guys, but these have been very busy days.

How about the King of Spain telling Chavez to shut up? I think it's priceless and about time someone told him to respect others. I'm no fan of Zapatero, but he did this right in calling Chavez's methods of insulting all those he does not agree with.

Long live King Juan Carlos!!!!

So I need a New Laptop

Mac or PC? Would love to hear from all of you!

Election 2008 - The Republican Primary

As promised, I will be discussing all the candidates. We'll start with the Republicans, and with Rudy Giuliani in particular. If you want to know what he's about click on the video.

If you prefer to read, here are his 12 commitments. I've liked Rudy since the draft Rudy movement started, but I was a bit disappointed after the first debates. It seems he has been able to gather himself and present a platform that he can deliver as believable.

I like that he approached healthcare not only from the insurance perspective but also from the price/liability of doctors perspective. However, I think he falls a bit short of really proposing groundbreaking legislations.

One point I disagree is the Education plan. I'm a proponent of vouchers, but not at the expense of forgetting the public schools from where the kids are opting out. The solution is not for kids to be able to attend private school - that is one solution. The solution is to ensure that all schools have the resources to deliver quality education regarding of the location of the school.

I like his immigration program; I've always wondered why we don't have exit processes like the rest of the countries. I don't agree with deporting all who commit a felony UNLESS the receiving country agrees to enforce the completion of the sentence within their prisons.

While I find his plan to increase adoptions wonderful, it is not realistic. Unfortunately families do not want foster children: they are either too big or to jaded and they don't want to take on the responsibility.

There are some loopholes in his global economy plan, but I do like that he proposes to increase the math and science in which we as Americans lag so behind.

Rudy and I disagree heavily on the Iraq issue. Yes we had a moral duty to the Iraquis after we abandoned them in '91. We've payed with interest. I think is time Iraq takes care of itself, and our boys start coming home.

In summary, I agre with more than I disagree which makes him a viable candidate. However, keep in mind that politicians promises promises and as my grandmother used to say "prometer y prometer hasta meter; despues de metido nada cumplido".

Immigration Reform

Think the topic is dead? That there are no more bills around the subject? Think again.

This is the first sensemaking bill I see in a long time because it focuses on the problem -border security and internal enforcement - rather than on the symptoms - illegal aliens.

It's not perfect, but it is definitely a step in the right direction - solve the problem first - and most importantly, according to the article, it has garnered bi-partisan support in almost equal numbers.

We can figure out what to do with the illegal aliens after we secure our borders and our systems.

"Democracies" around the world

Interesting situation in these past couple of days in Pakistan and Georgia, in which US Government supported "democracies" have exhibited "dictatorshiplike" behavior. Is it that some countries just simply cannot follow a democratic model? Or is it that democracies get corrupted once in power?

If you take Latin America for example, corruption is so rampant that democracies pretty much don't work except in countries with "controlled" corruption. This corruption is partly responsible for some of the leftist governments that have recently risen to power: Ecuador, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua to name a few.

Good News and Bad News: The silver lining in these protests, is the fact that the Pakistani protests are led by none other than a woman. In a Muslim world, I think that is a very good sign of possible future things to come. However, while Musharaf worries about the protestors Al-Qaeda is having a field day in the Northwest territories.

Horrible News

Not just a US issue anymore. Let's see what sentencing they can come up with for the bastard, although I'd like for them to poke his brain and get more insights into what could drive someone to commit such a horrendous act.

Repressive Blueprint

Can anyone really be surprised? I'm not. After all, repressive Cuban revolutionaries were members - albeit distanced - of Papi's immediate family.

Leaning Left?

Are you f*cking kidding me? And people think they are leaning left, is there any doubt? I don't see how the could be leaning, they've always tilted to the left.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe in Free Speech just as much as anyone, but unless someone will script what she says - she's deranged. And not because of the Bush bashing, but because she exposes conspiracy theories as facts and ignores the hard evidence. She presents what she wants not what is; this is not news with commentary folks.

Cambio

I got mine, have you gotten yours?

Show your solidarity and your beliefs.

Awarding a Dissident

I didn't want to let this pass on my blog, so I too honor Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and congratulate him on winning the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. In light of recent events in which 70 youths were arrested for wearing a bracelet that said "cambio" I believe this becomes even more relevant for the dissident movement.

Marc @ Babalu, has a great post on what it is that Dr. Biscet believes.

"To defend the inalienable rights of the human race, we understand the need to put limits on government to prevent the undermining of those rights. It is because of this that we have become activists in this organization – to establish in our country the rule of law, so that each man and woman may be fulfilled as complete human beings."

For more on this man you can go here.

Threat or No Threat?

You tell me,

A contract employee at the largest nuclear plant in the nation was stopped at a
plant entrance Friday with a "relatively small" explosive device in his truck,
officials said.

I don't know about you but explosive and nuclear don't quite go together. "

This would be no story at all if it weren't for where the man worked," a law
enforcement official involved in the case said.

Gee, you think?

"There is no connection to terrorism. There is no threat to public safety."

Then what the hell was an employee doing with an explosive device described as a "pipe bomb"? Maybe I'm missing something, so let's keep reading.

The pipe had suspicious residue, but APS said initial checks failed to show any
explosive material on the pipe.

Whoa, hold on a minute, didn't you just tell me it was an "explosive device" and a "pipe bomb"? How the hell then is there no explosive material on the pipe? "

MCSO bomb squad tests later determined that the capped pipe was a credible
explosive device," APS said in a written statement.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office seems a bit confused. Is it or is it not a bomb?

Moreover, the device was so small that it would not have destroyed the truck if
it had detonated, let alone a large facility like Palo Verde, the official said.

Then why the hell all the fuss? If it wasn't enough to even blow up the truck, why am I even reading about this? The slant on the story should've been on how great the security at the plant is that they noticed this.

So let's review, an employee of the plant who has no business with explosives gets caught with a device that is called a pipe bomb but that really wouldn't even blow up his truck. And Homeland Security has so many layers to get to the reactor that this would be akin to a mosquito bite.

Should we be worried? You decide.

Are You Ready for some FOOTBALL?

Living in New England has a side effect, you either become a raging fan for the local teams or you abhor them. In my household it's the former, so it is with much anticipation that we are looking to Sundays Pats-Colts showdown.

Much has been written, and the media has seriously spun this matchup to a good vs. evil battle. But low and behold, it is in The New York Times where I finally find some sense and seriousness in reporting and analyzing the future game.

Now that's a good picture!

The Young America's Foundation, a conservative movement, has come up with what has got to be the best and most accurate picture of che guevara. The picture emulated Korda's but with the difference that this one is built with the faces of guevara's victims,

all individuals used in this photo montage were murdered by Che and the Cuban
regime, revealing the truth of Che's cruel murderous hypocrisy and acknowledging
his countless victims -- known and unknown.

You can purchase it for $5. I don't think I ever would buy it - I hate that image - but it is the best image of che so far.

(H/T The Real Cuba)

Cubans in the U.S.

One thing I love about blogging is the stories I get to read; in particular those of Cubans who have reached success.

Such is the story of Juan Alonso. A great story of a working class family who sent their 9-year-old boy to the states. Juan worked hard and discovered he was gay; later he channeled his artistic spirit into painting and now has a collection on exhibition at a gallery.

While Juan and I don't agree on everything we do share one thing in common:

About Seattle friends who visit the island and come back full of praise, he's
ambivalent. "I don't think they realize that Cubans working in the tourist
hotels are not allowed to eat there or even talk freely to the customers. I have
a nephew in that position. It's real. But Americans visit and say the place is
lovely. I say, yes, my island is lovely. It's a lovely police state."

Hey it's Seattle, I'll take any sane argument about the apartheid in Cuba.